
The Moral of the Story
The tale of the Snake, the Farmer, and the Heron
holds two important lessons.
First, it teaches us that kindness often does not
come back to us in the same way. Like water that
flows downhill, kindness moves forward, helping
others, but may never return to us. We should not
expect to be rewarded for being kind, but instead,
be kind simply because it is the right thing to do.
The fable also has a darker lesson.
Sometimes, kindness is not repaid, but instead is
met with harm.
The farmer’s kindness to the snake was repaid
with betrayal.
The heron’s kindness to the farmer was met with
betrayal. And the wife’s kindness to the heron, in
trying to set it free, was punished with pain.
In life, we may sometimes show kindness, but
instead of gratitude, we might face hardship or
hurt. Even in those cases, we must remember to
be kind, because kindness is its own reward – even
if it doesn’t always come back to us in the way we
hope.